Providing Feedback

Technology 1: Moodle Course Management System

• Rational
  • Moodle is a Learning Management System that educators can use to create effective online learning sites. Within Moodle, teachers can post homework assignments, reading passages, develop online assessments, post discussion forums, and can also be an effective tool for providing feedback to students on class work. An online learning management system is a wonderful place for collecting all class resources and student submissions for referring to later. By collecting this information in a centralized system online, students can view their past comments/suggestions from their teacher and monitor their progress throughout the class. Moodle is also password protected, so it maintains student confidentiality.

• Resources needed by school/Estimated Cost

• Because Moodle is open-source as opposed to a proprietary system, there is not a fee for the product itself. However, Moodle will need to be installed on a web server either on a server at your school, or hosted through a hosting provider, with hosted pricing varying depending on the number of students enrolled
• Teacher computer for posting materials and information (already in each classroom).

Technology 2: TurningPoint Student Response System

• Rational
  • TurningPoint Student Response System is fully integrated in Microsoft PowerPoint and allows students to participate in classroom instruction by using a keypad to answer questions posed by the teacher. When a question is displayed for the class, each student responds to the question by entering the corresponding number/letter on their keypad. The answers are transmitted to the computer and classroom results are graphically displayed on the screen for everyone to see. This is an excellent classroom tool, not only for student engagement and for maintaining students’ attention, but it is also an excellent tool for providing student feedback. By interpreting the student results, the teacher can gauge how well the students are understanding the material and can tailor their instruction to further explain material that is not understood. This is immediate feedback, both for the teacher and students because the students can also reassure themselves that they understand the material, or if they are struggling they can see that other students may be struggling with the same concepts.

• Resources needed by school/Estimated Cost
  • TurningPoint Student Response System:
    • Computer USB Receiver: approx. $100
    • Student Keypads: different models are available. The basic RF model is approx $28 per keypad
    • TurningPoint System Software: free download
  • Smartboard for projecting PowerPoint presentations with TurningPoint questions: already installed in each classroom
  • Teacher classroom computer: already located in each classroom
  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint: already installed on classroom computer.

Technology 1: Podcasting Using Audacity

• Rational
  • By developing an audio podcast using Audacity audio recording software, an educator can record personalized messages for his/her students and deliver this recording electronically via an MP3 file. Recent studies suggest that by providing auditory student feedback, teachers were more likely to provide a more in-depth explanation of the comments to students, and it also saved them time once they became comfortable with the recording technology. Students were also more inclined to listen to their personalized audio feedback, as opposed to reading through comments on previous assignments. Students also say that being able to hear the tone of the teacher was also helpful in understanding the feedback and the delivery seemed more personal and showed that the teacher had really spent time looking through their work.

• The MP3 files could be delivered electronically to each student through various avenues. One way that works well is posting the audio files in a Learning Management System, such as Moodle, for students to access. This assures that the files are being protected by an encrypted system so that students will only be able to access the files after logging in with their username and password.

• Resources needed by school/Estimated Cost

• Because Moodle is open-source as opposed to a proprietary system, there is not a fee for the product itself. However, Moodle will need to be installed on a web server either on a server at your school, or hosted through a hosting provider, with hosted pricing varying depending on the number of students enrolled
• Teacher computer for posting materials and information (already in each classroom)
• Computer microphone for recording: pricing varies by model. An example of a quality USB headphone/microphone is a product by Plantronics for $44.95 which can be purchased at www.plantronics.com. Depending on the quality of microphone you are looking for, pricing can be more or less.

Educational Challenge(s)/How One of Technologies Deals with Challenge(s):

• Maintaining student motivation is a very important task for educators, particularily in the 21st century when our students are multi-tasking every day. TurningTechnologies student response system helps to maintain student motivation by keeping students engaged during learning activities and providing instant feedback to students on their level of understanding within a particular subject matter. It keeps students actively participating and contributing to the content delivery.